<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Xenial Speeds by MindKnox</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29894358">Xenial Speeds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindKnox/pseuds/MindKnox'>MindKnox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DCU, The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Angst, Existentialism, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hope, Introspection, Meditation, Past Character "Death", Positive Thinking, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Post-Episode: s05e22 Legacy, Self-Discovery, Short One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:47:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>673</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29894358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindKnox/pseuds/MindKnox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Following her erasure from existence on Earth-1, Nora West-Allen searches for meaning in the strange new world she has been reborn in.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Xenial Speeds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her name is Nora West-Allen. A speedster like her father, she became the Fastest Woman Alive in her time: XS, the guardian of Central City. Seeking to save her father from disappearing into the imminent Crisis, she sacrificed her life to alter his fate. In doing so, she was erased from reality as punishment for her interference... or so she thought.</p><p>By way of divine intervention, she was instead brought to a new universe - home to heroes and villains she has never heard of before - born from the Crisis with a mission of her own.</p><p>But with that mission complete... <em>what is next for Nora West-Allen?</em></p><p>For the past seven minutes (and for what has felt like two hours for her), she has been internally asking herself that, only to draw blanks at each confrontation. Of course she has new friends to stay with across several states, and even a new job as this Central City's protector... <em>but there must be more, somewhere out there.</em></p><p>In the frozen moment's continuum, the world stands still as Nora walks alone, past the people of this Central City living their everyday lives - rich, poor, young, old - and the many animals of all shapes and sizes - birds soaring through the skies, fish swimming in the river, ducks resting on it, dogs, cats, squirrels and more scampering about the land. To her, they're all the same, yet so unlike her. Not for the obvious, but for one sole reason: <em>they belong here. They were born in this universe. They weren't brought here with some divine mission to vanquish an all-encompassing evil. They're just... them. And I'm just me. All alone, really.</em></p><p>Of course, she has made new friends; those who accept her, who welcome her into their home, who offer their aid should she ever need it. But she doesn't feel like one of them. Perhaps she never will. She barely even felt that way back home.</p><p>
  <em>Can I exist?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Should I exist?</em>
</p><p>Looking down into the waveless rivers of Central City, she ponders. This is what her life has brought her to. This unknown variable among infinite possibility. The daughter of loving parents; journalist and superhero, deliverers of hope, caring people who look to the future with hope. She has their name. She was born of their optimism. And whether she'll be born again in the timeline of her revision, she'll be raised under their watchful care.</p><p>
  <em><strike>Can I exist?</strike> <strike>Should I exist?</strike> ... How exactly will I exist now?</em>
</p><p>Nora smiles as she looks up at the sunny skies, clear and pristine on this lovely new day. It feels trivial, this angst, asking herself that question. Maybe she can still do good. Maybe she can have her own XS-brand coffee. Maybe she can find a new purpose in life. Maybe it's always been so obvious.</p><p>Maybe she's been thinking things too straightforwardly.</p><p>Down to the second, time carries on, and so does she. Nora walks along with everyone else, another ordinary face to those who don't know her story. Walking - not running - she paces through the city, past its many landmarks. They're impressive and new, unlike anything from either of her old pasts or old presents. This is her future. She breathes it in as she pushes forward, carried along the breeze by the calming of existence.</p><p>After a couple minutes of walking, with the Sun starting to set, Nora arrives at a park somewhere in the middle of town. Spotting an empty patch along the greenery, she walks over to it and sits there, taking in a breath and crisscrossing her legs. She closes her eyes, clears her head, and accepts her state of being. In peace, she feels free. Whether it's Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-Red, Earth-Blue, what matters is that she is alive, she is experiencing, she merely is.</p><p>She's not gone. She's right here. She sighs, free from the shackles of continuity, if only for just this singular moment along her tumultuous life.</p><p>
  <em>How's that for a spit in the face of "erasure from existence"?</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have some ideas for future chapters, though I'll be working on them at my own pace. As it stands right now, this shall be a one-shot.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>